Potential 2009 hoops roster

[Velcro]

(in order of experience)

PG Howard (sr)  Leemow (so)  Daniels (so)  Crater (so) 

SG Jones (ju)  Burwell (fr)  Noriega (fr)

SF Espinosa (so)  Dumars (fr)

PF Gilchrist (so)

C Rivas (sr)  Famous (ju)

* 2 more scholarships

Still seems a bit on the small side, but MUCH better than it was without Famous.

Both Guard positions are pretty interchangeable

And C and PF are pretty interchangeable. 

You could have a 3 guard, 2 forward (no center) set as Heath told Famous...

or you could even have Gus as a SF and have big lineup.

With the remaining scholarships, a SF and a C/PF would be great.  If you can't get one of quality guys mentioned, hold 'em in your pocket for next year.

[Paisa el Toro]

Actually, I think Gilchrist plays more like a SF, and Espinosa is bit of an undersized PF.

[Velcro]

probably true, to some extent.  But I think defensively, i'd rather have espinosa guarding the 3 spot.  He seems quicker laterally.  Offensively, I do agree.

[Velcro]

and you can say Dumars is a shooting guard... but at 6'5 or 6'6, 230+, he's as heavy as gilchrist who is at least 3 inches taller (similar build to Zaronn Cann).  I listed him as a SF due to his size... but from what I read, he has very good range and never hesitates to take open shots.

[Paisa el Toro]

I hope Dumars and Noriega are as lethal as reports make them out to be. We need some serious perimeter shooting help.

[Velcro]

Burwell's offensive stats are gaudy as well.  We need at least one of them to earn quality minutes knocking down perimeter shots.  Hopefully a couple of them.  Burwell has some slashing ability too, so he'd be a great guy to get solid contributions from..

[The New "U"]

We'll be able to produce a good starting lineup. We need one of the wing players to immediately step in and we need Famous to be the real deal as well in order for it to work though. We're dangerously thin up front though; that's expected with a program like ours. Hopefully injuries/foul trouble won't be much of a problem for the big men.

[Velcro]

i think there is potential for exactly that... injuries and foul trouble to be a problem.  That is why i hope we get Marcius AND another guy.

Rivas still has iffy legs... although he ended the year playing very good solid ball for us.  He also tends to give away a couple cheap fouls. 

The pieces are coming together though and the starting lineup is going to be decent.  if we can get a rotation of 7 or 8 guys giving good minutes, there is certainly potential for a vast improvement.

[Velcro]

Update now that Patrick signed:

(in order of experience)

PG Howard (sr)  Leemow (so)  Daniels (so)  Crater (so) 

SG Jones (ju)  Burwell (fr)  Noriega (fr)

SF Espinosa (so)  Dumars (fr)

PF Gilchrist (so) Fitzpatrick (fr)

C Rivas (sr)  Famous (ju)

* 1 more scholarships

From this, I can see this being our opening day lineup (assuming crater can't play until after finals in december)

Pos  Lineup   

PG   Howard (Leemow, Crater*, Jones, Daniels)

SG   Jones  (Howard, Noriega, Dumars, Burwell)

SF   Espinosa (Burwell, Fitzpatrick, Gilchrist)

PF  Gilchrist (Famous, Espinosa)

C     Famous (Rivas)

an interesting combination would be

PG Jones  6'4

SG Burwell 6'6

SF Gilchrist 6'10

PF Famous 6'11

C Rivas 6'10

Quite a large lineup.   But that is contingent on Burwell being the guy that steps up.

If not, move Jones back to SG, put in Howard, and you still only lose 1 inch at PG, and 2 inches at SG.

PG Howard 6'3

SG Jones 6'4

SF Gilchrist 6'10

PF Famous 6'11

C Rivas 6'10

And that lineup has tremendous potential for scoring.

Jones is obviously good for 18-20 ppg or more, based on his first 2 seasons.

If Gilchrist gets any consistency in his game, he could be there for 15 ppg.

Famous SHOULD get his points and rebounds, my guess 12 ppg

Howard averaged over 10 last year thanks to his improved agressiveness and shooting touch, and recovered knee.  I'd expect him to repeat that.

And Rivas seems to get 7 or 8 pts just with his rebounding putbacks.

So that lineup has roughly 57 pts avg potential on any given night.

(and that is without any 3 pt specialists being in the lineup other than Jones who is Mr. everything - burwell, noriega, dumars)

[Ruger7mmmag]

Geez, with almost 3 seven footers, how could we not suck next year if they are even marginally talented?  Crazy how tall these bball players are these days.  Used to think if a team had one guy near 7 foot that was something, now every guy on the floor looks like a tree.